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tudents from five primary schools dealing with clean water shortages in North Jakarta can now enjoy a drink of fresh water thanks to an initiative by students from the Jakarta International School (JIS).

To celebrate World Water Day this coming Sunday, a student club at JIS, Helping Hands, collaborated with USAID's Aman Tirta (Safe Water) Program, and copper and gold mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia to establish portable water facilities for drinking and washing.

North Jakarta elementary schools SDN 01 Ancol, SDN 3 Ancol, SDN 02 Pademangan Barat, SDN 09 Pademangan Timur, SDN 12 Pademangan Barat and a library at Kapuk,West Jakarta received water tanks, taps and drinking fountains from the program.

Founder of Helping Hands Nicholas Oravetz said that after conducting research into water conditions in Jakarta, the student club decided to design a program to increase access to clean water.

"When we first started this year, we took a look at the biggest needs in Jakarta. One of the biggest needs was water," he said.

SD 3 Ancol headmaster Widodo said the quality of ground water in the school area was poor and also not practical.

American Ambassador to Indonesia Cameron Hume launched the facilities Thursday along with North Jakarta spatial planning office head Toni Sukanda.

Following the launch, students rushed to wash their hands under the running water coming from the newly built tanks and drank treated water from taps.

Six-grader Ayu Asriati said she was pleased with the new water facilities.

"Now we can drink water from the taps. There is no need for us to go to the teacher's room *to get drinks*."

Helping Hands raised funds by selling cakes and holding a garage sale, even making Rp 20 million in one day. On March, 1, with Jakarta Free Spirit, a local running group, they held a fun run to raise money for the program. With around 450 partaking in the run, the group raised enough funds to build facilities in 10 schools.

With Aman Tirta, which has been working with schools to implement its safe water program, the group selected the schools to receive the facilities. The schools use Air RahMat, a 1.25% sodium hypochlorite solution, that treats tap water and makes it drinkable. Air RahMat can reduce the risk of diarrhea by 40-80%.

Aman Tirta spokeswoman Wendy Sarasdyani said they were still looking for four other schools to receive facilities.

Access to water fit for consumption is a big issue in North Jakarta, with cramped residential areas and a lack of established water connections.

Aman Tirta head Robert Ainslie said while traditionally boiling water made it drinkable, the time and cost requirements with the fuel required was making the process tiresome and expensive.

He said introducing water treatment to schools through Air RahMat was a positive step toward helping the community gain access to clean water.